Inspections

On CNN tonight, people talking about Iraq seem to think the inspections will be going on for a while since we will not have anything conclusive from the January 27 Blix report.

How is this possible? The remainder of 3rd Infantry Division is deploying to the Gulf and will we really park troops in the desert for a significant period daring Iraq to unleash chemicals in a pre-emptive strike? And what would the inspectors possibly find in the weeks or months to follow? We simply cannot wait for the inspectors to find something--something that those opposed to invasion will argue is only a 'technical' violation and not worth war. Perhaps the fact that we are not sharing intelligence with the inspectors indicates we have what we want as far as evidence goes. If we do, letting the vaunted inspectors, upon whom anti-war types have invested so much, report nothing right before we haul out the damning evidence, will be all we need. Under these circumstances, waiting for the Blix report makes sense.

The alternative is that we are just going to wait until the inpsectors find something. That is unacceptable and an invitation to inaction and failure. The bin Laden wannabees will be jubilant and we will have thrown away the gains we made in Afghanistan.

I cannot believe that we will wait, yet it seemed unlikely to me that we would have waited until 2003. Even now, I don't know why we wait for the Blix report. If we are waiting for it, it better be a set up and trigger for war. I am not so much worried about the course of the war as I am concerned that outside events could intervene and make it dangerous to commit five of our thirteen active divisions (Army and Marines) to the Gulf with supporting air and naval power.

On to Baghdad. Time is not on our side.